marriage: god's covenant for man and woman since the beginning

I was married in the right place at the right time.

I do know that.

​When I was just 21 years old, I asked the girl that won my heart to marry me. Every date was a positive, and there was nothing but good impressions for four weeks. But that's a story for another time. Let me just say that the Lord spoke to my soul in a way that I KNEW this was the girl I was to marry, even when I had doubts.

So I listened to the Lord and got married to her in the right place at the right time: in the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.

Grant and Christa Johnson, April 24, 1981, Oakland Temple, CA

This picture was taken just after we came out of the temple, and we had been sealed together for all time and all eternity. I cannot begin to describe the feelings of spiritual soberness that washed over us as we knelt together across an alter in the temple, and made sacred covenants in an ordinance of the Priesthood. One might call this marriage, but it is so much more because at that moment when a Sealer holding that office of the Priesthood of God pronounced the words of the ordinance that would seal us and our future children together as a family for all time and all eternity, we could only feel it, not comprehend it. Tears flowed freely down my face during the entire several moments of this experience, because I knew the Lord was present, it was very sacred. I believed angels witnessed it.

​So this picture to the left represents the serene happiness that still dwelt with us in our happiness as we stood there to take a few pictures for family keepsakes. Glad we did. As I look as this picture I see two such very young and naïve but faithful people, who made a very faithful and important decision that day. Naïve because they have no way of knowing what lay before them, and faithful because of the desire to be married in the Lord's house that day. They began on a pathway that would lead them to eventually have twelve (12) children all born in the covenant made this day. The New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage.

This said, let me tell you NOW how I know that families are forever.

Your Children Also, are Sealed to You

I had heard this, I had learned this growing up, and it was even said that even if your children go astray, that because of what you did in being sealed together,​you would have the added blessing of the Lord helping to bring them back to the fold of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I doubted this, however, because I could not find it in the scriptures. I thought it a kind of conjecture. What follows is the oft quoted statement attributed to Joseph Smith the prophet about wayward children:

President James E. Faust (1920–2007), former Second Counselor in the First Presidency said:“I believe and accept the comforting statement of Elder Orson F. Whitney:“‘The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.’6“A principle in this statement that is often overlooked is that they must fully repent and ‘suffer for their sins’ and ‘pay their debt to justice.’ I recognize that now is the time ‘to prepare to meet God’ [Alma 34:32]. If the repentance of the wayward children does not happen in this life, is it still possible for the cords of the sealing to be strong enough for them yet to work out their repentance? In the Doctrine and Covenants we are told, ‘The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God,“‘And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation’ [D&C 138:58–59]....“Perhaps in this life we are not given to fully understand how enduring the sealing cords of righteous parents are to their children. It may very well be that there are more helpful sources at work than we know.8 I believe there is a strong familial pull as the influence of beloved ancestors continues with us from the other side of the veil.”9

So over the past 34 years we have had 12 children, and 18 grandchildren, all these souls whom the Lord entrusted to us and who are our posterity. As of Feb. 2015. According to the covenant, our children are sealed to us for all time and all eternity. I often ponder on what this actually means.

so how I now KNOW that this principle is true...

Throughout my life, I have always believed that if you don't repent fully before you die, you are in big trouble. And in fact, you are. I have not believed that there are chances for those who had the light and knowledge, because of my interpretation of the Book of Mormon scripture which says:

Alma Chapter 34:

​34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

So as I read this all these years, I thought it very clear. The devil doth seal you his. End of story.

​But apparently, it is NOT the end of the story. My interpretation and understanding was wrong. In fact, we have to be scholars of ALL the scriptures and not take one out of context of all scriptures that have been revealed, or try to make one more important than another. If its in the canon, its ALL important and doctrine. There are scriptures/doctrine which teach of repentance in the World of Spirits, after our mortal life. So we know that. It is taking place today (see D&C 138). There are also scriptures that teach that sinners who were eternally married, sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, will come forth in the 1st resurrection (that's a good thing) and will receive their exaltation (also a magnificent thing, see D&C 132:26). One could read that scripture out of context and say "it says right here, no matter what I do, I will enter into my exaltation if I was sealed in the temple," and they would be wrong. Wrong, because there are numerous other scriptures which teach about the absolute necessity of repentance, and the Atonement of Christ. So we have to be careful not to take things out of context. Apparently, I have been partially doing this when it comes to Alma 34. I have thought about absolutes, when there are obviously possibilities of repentance, albeit much harder repentance, akin to the kind that Alma went through.

Alma Chapter 36:12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

My Son Stephen was recently killed in an auto accident, on Dec. 14, 2016, 11:00 am, by a DUI driver. He was 25.

It was a tragic day. It was a day I will never forget, the local Sheriff coming to our door around 8 pm, but my wife was not home. I stepped outside to talk to this man. He was super large and tall, in uniform, and he wanted to also talk to my wife. I knew something was wrong. I told him my wife was not home, and could I know what this was regarding. He told me that my son was killed in an automobile accident in Nevada. He told me to call my wife but do not tell her what had taken place because it is not good for people to drive after getting such tragic news. So Christa came home, she was about an hour away.

Stephen's last view, on the Nevada highway, never saw it coming

I stood there in the dark of the night, cold, and trying to bravely process this news…as I was in a surreal place, almost when all the rest of the world fell down around me, the only thing I was thinking about was Stephen, was gone? Killed? What does this mean for us now? It was a strange experience where I felt sadness, but not to tears. (Not yet anyway. That wouldn’t hit me for another four hours when I went up the stairs to go to bed after talking to so many people**).

​When the Sheriff was talking with me out front away from the kids, I asked if we could get into his car, because it was very cold out, I was shivering, I had no coat and he agreed, we got in the car. I began to tell him about Stephen. As I told some stories, there was a moment of silence where we just were thinking. IN that very moment I had a spiritual experience I will not forget. The Spirit whispered to my soul these words: “He is sealed to you” “You are an eternal family.”

I tucked that away, amazed at the simplicity of it, but it was not until later that night, after I had gone up to my room in fact, and went through some heavy sobbing in my pillow. I pondered after crying it all out, the words that the Spirit had whispered to me just four hours earlier as I sat in a Sheriff’s car. “He is sealed to you” “You are an eternal family.”

I thought, if the Spirit took the time to whisper this to me as I sat in that car, then it must be important, it must matter!!I thought, it would only matter if there was hope for Stephen to get it all right, to be with us in the Celestial Kingdom, and he too would be married. If we are an eternal family, as the Spirit whispered to me in truth that night, then surely this has meaning. There is no eternal family if they are not in the Celestial Kingdom with you. Eternal families are in the Celestial Kingdom. Because of the whisperings of the Holy Spirit to me that night, I know for myself that this principle and doctrine of eternal families is true. I am not preaching it as a doctrine for you, but I am saying what happened to me, and my belief in this doctrine of eternal families was significantly strengthened that night, in a Sheriff's car, where I received a personal revelation that comforted me.​

Stephen had accepted Jesus Christ in his young life. He knew exactly what he was doing when I baptized him in the waters of baptism. He chose it. He was excited about it. He willingly and lovingly accepted the invitation to be baptized and was happy that day. SO he did know Jesus Christ, and rejoiced in it. For a brief few years only, Stephen lost his way, but I am confident he WOULD HAVE COME BACK if only his life was not suddenly cut way short.But I know Alma got a second chance. He was the worst and vilest of sinners as the scripture states, his dad was even a prophet, he knew the gospel light and rejected it trying to destroy the church of God.... but God gave him the chance to turn it around as he sent an angel to SHOCK Alma into a spiritual awakening to realize the truth of who is in charge. I have no doubt the meeting that Stephen had with Jesus Christ upon his death would yield a similar awakening, and Stephen, like Alma, will/would/did respond in a manner to mitigate and repent and get BUSY for Christ, like Alma did. Like it says in Alma 34.​Stephen is in the Spirit World. There is more work to do there than there is here. There are 100 billion souls there, and we have only done about 100 million temple baptisms, a mere scratch of that surface, a 1/1000th of the work. SO much work left to do, so many souls to save, to teach. Stephen could literally be preparing for a real mission to go and help rescue souls. I believe it is possible, and wish I could know it. Maybe the Lord will see in his mercy or wisdom to either reveal it to me, or to withhold it from me, depending on the one or the other. All I know is that I have become a much more willing servant of the Lord, more willing to accept what comes my way, and more willing to be patient on the Lord and wait for things to happen on HIS timetable.Jesus Christ has become literally, my super-hero, and when I watch the videos of him, I more vividly and realistically watch that fictional actor who portrays him, and I see the spiritual message and know that there was a very real and literal Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, who walked the earth and did those things, and did them powerfully, and did them perfectly…. And he was perfect in his obedience and in doing ONLY the will of the Father. I truly, because of Stephen’s death, love the Savior more, honor and respect the resurrection more, the literal reality of it, and I can testify with greater firmness and truth and resolve as to the reality of the Atonement and what it means to Stephen, and to our family. Let me close once again with this truth, revealed to me, which have caused me to become a firm believer in the sealing power of the temple because of the covenants we make with Christ:“He is sealed to you”“You are an eternal family.”

Days went by. A funeral came and went.

But what we learned, as the peace of the Lord came to us, is that God loves all of His children and gives us all a chance to decide how much we love Jesus Christ. Those who truly do, will do ALL that He has asked us to do and to sacrifice for the building of the Kingdom of God on the earth. This process continues through the 1000 year Millennium, so we know there are lots of opportunities in "THIS LIFE" until the final judgment day, which follows this Millennium. If we have not repented and got it right by then, then truly, it will be too late.

**(continued from up above)Later that night, as I approached my room, I began to emotionally heave inside, and I shut my door and went over towards the bed, sadness fully kicking in now, and I buried my head in the pillow and blankets and tried not to wail too loudly for worry that others downstairs would worry about me, and I would make them even sadder than they already were. Like when we called people to tell them that Stephen had been killed, I heard Kevan on the other end of the line when Christa was telling him, I could hear that he wanted to know if we were serious and when it hit him, he wailed and bawled for a good while…it hit him hard and he was all alone. It felt so sad to hear him cry, and it made ALL of us start crying again. And when we repeated this story for others that night, they cried and it made us cry all over again. So after this kind of night for many hours, I went up to bed thinking that I had cried it out and was feeling like the serious grief had passed, or I wouldn’t be so affected.Then I entered my room, alone, and it hit me real hard. I cried a good long while, then fell asleep.​